Deeply
by Happymood
Summary: AU. It wasn't a crush because Romano couldn't have a crush on a man six years older than him. It was just simple lust, his hormones going crazy, the reason why he couldn't take his eyes off those sculptured Spanish muscles. Antonio didn't seem to mind, anyway. Spamano
1. Chapter 1

If asked, Romano Lovino Vargas would say that his biggest problem was his middle name. The reason? It was stupid and completely unmanly.

He wondered what the hell had propelled his parents to choose such a name (and use it on daily basis), which led him to the realization that his even bigger problem, much bigger than his middle name, were his parents (namely his father, Romolo Vargas, because his mother had been a saint, so no, just his father).

So Romano could pretty well blame his father for all his problems, from his shitty inferior complex, to his shitty middle name and his shitty attraction for older men, which made him a species of modern day Lolita minus the dress. Okay- _and_ minus the existence of perverted older men in his life (maybe). Fuck it, he was _no_ Lolita.

The point was that if Romano Lovino (fuck that name) Vargas had to describe himself in few words, he would say he was just a seventeen year old boy that hated school and didn't want to go to college, University, work, whatever.

Shitty middle name aside, Romano considered himself a pretty normal teenager. He wasn't aware of his inferior complex (only when he could use it to his advantage) and he hadn't a clue of his attraction to older men until much later (and blame his father for that as well, by the way. Romano would have loved living without that knowledge of himself, thank-you-very-much).

In other words, if asked, Romano would have said that his biggest problem was mainly his middle name. After _that_ day, however, Romano would add the sexual attraction he felt for slightly older men to the list.

_That_ day had been a pretty normal day. Romano went to high-school and during the pause he lurked in a corner to make sure that a bulky, stupid German student he knew didn't inappropriately touch his brother Feliciano (347 days and still Romano hadn't caught him in the act, which –damn. He would have loved to use it to expel him from school, preferably tied on a rocket). He almost fell asleep in Maths, napped during Geography class and took a walk in the schoolyard in Latin. Pretty much the usual.

When school was over, Romano and Feliciano (seriously, their parents had serious name-related problems) left for home together, quarreled a bit about what tasted better (pasta or pizza, and until now it was a draw) on the bus and planned to go each their way as soon as they stepped into their apartment.

No such luck.

Because as soon as Feliciano opened the door, his father welcomed them with open arms, which wasn't unusual it itself, and said:

"I have news!"

Which in turn meant something usually awful.

Romano and Feliciano looked at each other in question and then at Romolo Vargas, who grabbed them by the shoulder and led them in.

"What's going on, dad?" Feliciano asked with a smile. Romano scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, muttering something about having things to do and no time for this family reunion shit.

Romolo's face suddenly turned dramatic as soon as he sat down on the couch and motioned them to sit next to him. Feliciano happily did, while Romano happily decided to lean against the wall in what he hoped looked cool and not nervous at all. (If Romolo's sigh was of any indication, he probably failed).

"You know how we are having some financial problems, right?" Romolo asked, and before either of them could reply he added: "Since your mother left us, I tried to do my best to give you a proper education, but…" Romolo teared up, "… my wage was cut by half recently, and no matter how much I try to make up for it by working in the Pub, I can't afford to buy all the things you need!"

(At this point Romano rolled his eyes because 1. His father wage was fine and intact, and 2. Working at the Pub and going to see the strippers are not the same thing, dad! And don't need things, you need money to ask that pretty waitress working in the Pub out and take her to a restaurant. Trust Romano, he knew.)

Feliciano teared up as well and clutched his father's hands in his grip.

"Don't worry, dad!" He exclaimed, "We will find a way out of this! I will leave school and work if that will make you happy!"

(At this point Romano felt the need to puke because it was overly melodramatic, and he had a strange urge to tell Romolo that Feliciano was lying, because no way in hell Feliciano would leave school to go to work, not until that German guy was still in the country).

Romolo seemed moved by his younger son proposal and, suddenly, looked as happy as ever. He flashed a grin and patted Feliciano on the back.

"Oh, son! Your words warm my heart!" Romolo exclaimed, "But you don't need to do that, I have the perfect solution!"

Feliciano seemed to perk up at that. Romano just rolled his eyes again.

"Which is?" Romano asked because he needed to make his doubts known. Romolo finally turned to look at him and smiled:

"Renting your room, of course!"

Romano's eyes turned wide as saucers.

"Renting what?!"

"Your room." Romolo repeated. "It's an easy way to earn some more money without the need to search for another job, and, guess what? I found the perfect guy to rent it to just today!"

Romano made a step forwards and shouted:

"You are kidding, right?"

"No, of course not." Romolo said, genuinely confused.

"And where I am going to stay?" Romano asked. "You know I have my final exams soon, right? What I am going to do?"

"You will stay with Feliciano just like when you were kids!" Romolo said rolling his eyes in a very accurate imitation of his eldest son, "And I am sure you will have no problem studying with your brother. In fact, I think it will be less distracting than staying by your own surfing the internet."

Romano scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is an evil plan from your part to make me study, isn't it?"

"No, of course not!" Romolo exclaimed and flashed a grin, which Romano took it for a confirmation to his fears. Damn, he thought he had been careful. After all, he had a good mark on his last test. (That Latvian guy was so easy to scare and blackmail, really, it was ridiculous.)

"It will be just like old times!" Feliciano piped in, "You and me in the same room! We can share stories until late in the night!"

"This is not happening!" Romano exclaimed.

"Romano is right, Feliciano." Romolo said, "You need to go to sleep at reasonable hours."

"That's not-!" Romano tried to say then run a hand through his hair, "Do you realize it is dangerous to bring a perfect stranger in our house? What if he kills us in our sleep?"

Romolo laughed finding the idea simply ludicrous.

"He is just a college kid." Romolo said, "He is new in town and he needed a room. I offered him one."

"Still." Romano tried to complain, but Romolo waved dismissively at him.

"He is fine. I am sure you will like him, Romano. He looks really innocent." Romolo said. Romano groaned loudly and stepped his foot down.

"I surely will not like him!" Romano said and turned to go to his room to gather his things (only to find that everything had been moved already. The bastard.)


	2. Chapter 2

When he woke up the next morning Romano was in a good mood. The reason was that he had a really good dream that involved that pretty blond girl in his class and pizza (which was a good combination, if you asked him), and he was now ready to get out of bed and have breakfast like any other morning. Nevertheless, his good mood crashed down on him when he noticed Feliciano stretching from the other side of the room, and he finally remembered where he was.

Damn.

Romano was really sharing a room with his brother now, wasn't he? Romano pouted and turned to face the wall, all thoughts of breakfast suddenly not so appealing anymore. A wall was separating him from his real room, and he caressed the white paint as if saying goodbye to his best friend. He wanted to cry, but he opted for resentment instead and closed his eyes real tight to block his brother out.

Maybe if he believed long enough, he will find himself in his room again, hopefully with his blond classmate in his arms. But this worked only in Disney movies and he was no fucking princess, so, of course, when he opened his eyes again, he came face to face with his brother's smiling face instead of his Lara Croft poster.

"Good morning, Lovino!"

"Don't call me that." Romano grumbled and hid his head under his pillow. Feliciano giggled and pulled his covers away from his body. Romano growled and hit Feliciano with his pillow, which only made Feliciano giggle harder.

"Come on! We have school!" Feliciano exclaimed and hugged Romano's pillow to his chest. "Aren't you excited?

"Go to hell, Feliciano!" Romano spat and tried to grab what was rightfully his from his brother's hands. Feliciano stuck his tongue out as Romano shouted: "Give that back!"

"Boys, this is no time for bickering." Romolo said just in that moment opening the door. Romano shot him a murderous look and crossed his arms over his chest. "Today is a great day!" Romolo added, unfazed by his eldest son's mood, which was, all thing considered, his default mood.

"Good morning, dad!" Feliciano exclaimed, as happy as ever, throwing the pillow back at Romano and hitting him right in the face. The oldest teenager cried in surprise and stared angrily at his brother, who was now totally ignoring him in favor of hugging their father.

"Good morning, darling!" Romolo exclaimed with a smile, and then looking at Romano with a stern face: "Will you get out of bed, already? You will miss the bus."

Romano scowled and indignantly stomped out of bed, making his way to the wardrobe where his and his brother's clothes now lied side by side. Feliciano trotted happily to him and picked the clothes for him before Romano could protest.

"Put some color in your life, Romano!" Feliciano exclaimed raising a pink shirt (which has previously been a white shirt that unfortunately found itself sharing the laundry machine with his father's red sweatpants) to him. Romano stared at the shirt then at his brother unbelievably.

"_Seriously_?"

"I think pink suits you, Lovino!" Romolo exclaimed from his place next to the door, "Now hurry! It's time for breakfast!"

Romano scoffed and grabbed the pink shirt from Feliciano's hands with the intention of throwing it away, when their father added from the stairs:

"Oh! And don't come back late today! Our guest is coming just in time for dinner!"

Romano's was in such a state of shock that he realized he had put the pink shirt on only when he stepped on the bus and everybody giggled behind their hands.

Which, damn.

His luck, though, didn't end there. School was a bitch, as always, but not as much as his Math teacher, who caught him snoring in the back and decided it was a nice idea to send him to detention when classes were over. Romano wouldn't have minded if it had been any other day than that, but the fact his father was waiting for them for dinner made detention unbearable because between his irate father and his irate Math teacher, Romano feared his father most. Thank-you-very-much.

He tried to reason with his teacher but to no avail, and he really hoped his father would understand and forgive him.

Of course, just the fact his father was going to discover he had slept in class and had had detention was frightening on its own. Romano cursed himself for his stupidity, and stared at the minutes passing by with his heart beating madly in his chest.

"I really need to-!"

"No."

He was in trouble.

"Sir?"

He was seriously in big trouble.

"You need to stay here just for an hour more. Now shut up."

Trouble with a capital T.

At some point, his brother sent him a message on his cell, asking where he was, but when the professor caught him staring at the display he took the phone away, and Romano had no mean to tell Feliciano he was going to come home late anymore.

Which, damn.

So, to recapitulate his misfortune. He was wearing a pink T-shirt, his father had rent his room to a perfect stranger he needed to meet that very same day and his teacher was torturing with unnecessary detention because Romano didn't found x+y=z as exciting as a good game of soccer.

When the bell rang, Romano was already late by two hours. He picked up his stuff as quickly as he could, bumped into a series of people (among which the blond girl he had a wet dream on) and tried to catch the first bus that could take him home before shit hit the fan (but it already did and it smelled horribly).

He arrived home sweating like a pig, fearing the worst when he rang the doorbell and his father opened the door for him. Romolo looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and worry on his face that made Romano uneasy.

"I am so sorry." Romano blurted out between pants. "My Math teacher is a real bitch! I hadn't done anything and he sent me to detention without a good reason whatsoever! And, dad! You have to believe me when I say he had no fucking reason to!"

Romolo raised an eyebrow at his son's blathering and raised a hand to make him stop talking. He smiled widely at him and softly pulled him inside, closing the door behind them.

"It's okay. We will talk about this later." Romolo said and Romano didn't like Romolo's calm tone of voice a bit. He had no time to question it, though, as his father lead him to the kitchen holding him by the shoulder.

Romano opened his mouth to say something more when he finally realized there were people talking in the other room. For a moment he had totally forgotten he had to be home sooner for a reason and his heart started beating rapidly in his chest. He gulped, because meeting new people wasn't his favorite pastime, and let his father lead the way.

"My eldest son is finally here!" Romolo announced when they stepped inside the kitche. Romano felt two pairs of eyes turn to look at him and he suddenly became very red in the face. First, he acknowledged the sauce-smeared face of his brother, and then locked eyes with a really good looking man.

Good looking being an understatement.

The guy in question stood up when he came in and smiled at him in a way that made Romano dizzy. Romano stared at the other's green eyes first and then his look dropped on the other's lips settling finally down to his biceps that showed under his plain looking shirt.

Romano felt suddenly weird in the stomach.

"Antonio, this is Lovino." Romolo said patting Romano on the shoulder, and the weird (but kind of nice) feeling in his stomach suddenly turned into horror. Romano's eyes went wide as saucers and he stared unbelievably at his father's face, who just smiled innocently at him.

"Lovino is my eldest son." Romolo continued, "He is seventeen." He continued, "My _Lovino_. He told me he had some stuff to do for tomorrow after school so he couldn't come right on time. Isn't that so, _Lovino_?"

Romano stared at him, hard, outraged, livid, but he had no time to retort that the new guy, Antonio, made a step forwards and took his hand in his. Romano's eyes were back on Antonio in an instant. They were almost the same height, and Romano flushed when he realized how close Antonio's face was.

"It doesn't matter." Antonio said with a bright smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lovino."

Romano wanted to scream at the use of his middle name, but for the time being his throat was too dry to do anything about it. He blamed it to the air conditioning in the bus. Nevertheless, he managed a soft:

"Romano."

Antonio blinked at him.

"Sorry?"

"R-Romano." Romano tried again, but it only came out as a squeak. Romolo laughed and pat him hard on the back again.

"Poor Lovino." Romolo said, "Don't misunderstand him, Antonio. He is really shy when he meets new people."

Romano shot him a murderous look, but Romolo shrugged it off and motioned him to sit down to eat.

"Shall we keep eating then?" Romolo asked, "The past will get cold!"

Antonio nodded and then smiled at Romano again, who scowled, wondered if he should just storm to his room (before remembering he had no room) and then just sat down next to his brother, facing Antonio.

"So, before we were so abruptly interrupted, you said you are studying Economy?" Romolo asked between mouthfuls of pasta. Romano scoffed and tried to eat something too, but he felt like he couldn't really swallow anything and ended up picking up his pasta and stare at it.

"Agronomics, actually." Antonio said and Romano's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the other's voice. He groaned, called himself an idiot in his head and started devouring his dinner even if he wasn't really hungry. He heard Antonio giggle before him, but Romano didn't spare him a glance.

"I am really glad you gave me this opportunity, Mr. Vargas. It was such a pain finding an apartment in this town."

"Oh, it's just an idea that popped in my head!" Romolo said shooting a disappointed look at his eldest son, who didn't give a damn. "We are not doing this out of charity, of course! We needed the money."

"Yeah, well… I was really happy when you offered." Antonio said and Romano saw him looking when he reached for the water. "I am not going to be a bother, Mr. Vargas."

"I am actually more concerned for my sons." Romolo laughed, "They need to study as well, but now that they are sharing the same room, I am worried they are going to bicker over the silliest things instead of concentrating on their homework."

"I resent that." Romano spat, talking for the first time since he came home. "I am doing well, thank you very much."

"Really?" Romolo asked raising an eyebrow and then he glanced at Antonio. "Lovino is in that stage of his life, you know. He is one of those angsty teenagers that think they are the center of the whole world…"

"Hey!" Romano complained. "I am not-!"

"… and who think they got everything under control." Romolo finished. Antonio nodded, and Romano shot him an angry look. He didn't like Antonio already, but he had no time to let out his thoughts, that Romolo looked at him again: "I think you have problems in Math, don't you?"

"Not with Math." Romano spat. "With my Math professor."

"He is so nice." Feliciano piped in. "He actually brought sweets last Halloween. He was really kind and he made us laugh."

Romano scoffed.

"He is a pervert." Romano said. "I am sure it's his way to lure us into his arms."

"I am sure that you don't have problems in Math, right Antonio?" Romolo asked then, ignoring his son's banter. "What with studying economy and all…"

Antonio was taken aback by the question, but he promptly said:

"No, not really. Well, high school math was nothing compared to what we have to do now, so…"

"That's great!" Romolo exclaimed and beamed, "Lovino would need the extra help!"

Romano dropped his fork and stared with his mouth wide open at Romolo, who stared defiantly back at him. Feliciano laughed at the exchange of looks, while Antonio smiled.

"I could…" Antonio started, "Yeah… okay, if he doesn't mind."

"Of course, I fucking mind!" Romano exclaimed, "I don't need… _tutors_!"

"If you can manage with him…" Romolo said ignoring his son, "I will detract 5% from your rent."

"Seriously?" Antonio asked and he looked really happy. Romolo smiled and Romano almost slammed his head on his table. Almost.


	3. Chapter 3

Romano could see that his father and his brother were enjoying this terribly. He stared at them, unbelievable, with his Math books under his armpit and hoped Romolo would stop torturing him and tell him it was all a joke. He waited for a while, but they both stood looking at him from the kitchen, smiling and motioning to knock on the damned door as if the Apocalypse would come if Romano didn't do it.

Romano wanted to tell them that the Apocalypse would come if Romano did _indeed _do it. But no. They didn't get it, and just smiled at him encouragingly back as if Romano was just afraid to knock on the door and not on the verge of breaking their necks if they didn't stop giggling behind their hands like deranged schoolgirls. (Which, seriously.)

Romano sighed loudly, abruptly opened the door and closed it violently behind him before he could see either his father or his brother cheering.

"Oh, hi, Lovino!" Antonio exclaimed seemingly not at all bothered that Romano barged into his room (note: Romano's room) in that abrupt way. Romano groaned and finally raised his eyes from the floor to look at Antonio.

Antonio stood with his back to him searching for something in his (note: Romano's) wardrobe and it would have been totally fine and dandy if Antonio hadn't been shirtless. Romano almost dropped his books at the sight and became ten shades of red when he realized he had been staring a little bit more that socially acceptable.

"You are a pervert!" He exclaimed and sat down slamming his books on the desk. Antonio faced him, eyebrow raised, but Romano did his best to avoid looking at him. "Now I understand why that old man let you in! Oh, my God!" Romano exclaimed shooting a look at Antonio's way. "Will you fucking dress already?" Romano groaned trying to hide his blush from Antonio's prying eyes. The older man looked absolutely confused, but finally chose a shirt and put it on. God, didn't the man understand it was impolite to walk around half naked? "Okay, let's just get this over with!" Romano exclaimed then opening his book at a random page.

"Are you a virgin?"

Antonio chuckled, and Romano finally dared to shot him a disapproving look.

"Excuse me?" Romano asked narrowing his eyes at him, but Antonio simply closed the wardrobe's doors and sat down next to him, stretching his hand to get Romano's book. Romano absolutely didn't stare at the veins in Antonio's arms.

"I have a lecture in the afternoon." Antonio said with a smile, "I hope you don't mind if I don't take things slowly?"

Romano stared at him, his eyebrow shooting up. Antonio smiled at him innocently, and Romano realized that the other had not even realized the pun, or was just ignoring it. Romano groaned, wondering if the other was an idiot or he just pretended to be innocent. He opted for the first and groaned.

"Why did you accept? Damn it." Romano asked opening his notebook and taking a pen lying somewhere on the desk. His hands were absolutely not shaking. No. "You could have fucking said no."

"You swear a lot." Antonio just commented, smile still on his lips, reading Romano's notes on his book. "Is this a chicken?" He asked showing Romano the little drawing he had stumbled upon. Romano rolled his eyes.

"It was supposed to be my professor with a chicken head." Romano explained, then sighed and grabbed his Math book back from Antonio's hands. "Listen, I want to do this as much as you, so why don't we pretend you were an amazing teacher and I fucking return back to my business?"

"Which is?"

Antonio looked at him, honestly curious, and Romano suddenly felt like sweating staring into Antonio's green eyes. He had nothing to say to that, so Antonio continued:

"Your dad said you need help. I don't mind helping you if I can."

Romano rolled his eyes to the ceiling as Antonio opened his book to the exercise page. Antonio really looked like he wanted to help him out with his homework, and Romano suddenly scoffed in annoyance. He had better stuff to do and he really didn't want to go through this.

"So, are these in red the exercises you need to do, Lovino?" Antonio kindly asked, but Romano just scoffed again and unexpectedly grabbed the book closer to him, read the exercise and wrote down the solution in less than three minutes. Antonio stared at him, amazed, but Romano did his best not to look smug about it.

"See? I don't fucking need help." Romano spat and resolved his next exercise too before shooting an arrogant look Antonio's way. "You can go to your lecture now. Bye bye." He said, shut the book closed and made to stand up when Antonio's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"I never was this good at Math!" Antonio exclaimed with a smile. "You were so fast! Why does your father keep telling me you suck at it?" He asked checking the two resolved exercises again as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Romano felt his face warm out from the compliment and furrowed his eyebrows.

"I- em…"

"He showed me your tests, you know?" Antonio said looking at him again, "You-well…"

"I know." Romano spat. "I always failed."

"But-!"

"I said I hated my professor, not that I am not good at it." Romano said feeling a note of pride in his voice, which he tried to hide behind an unfitting cough.

"But!"

"Listen, Antonio. Thank you, but no thank you. I don't need you lecturing me on something I already know. So, if we are good, I will just-!" Romano waved around the room, "Whatever. You don't need to know. Bye."

Romano finally stood up and made his way to the door again, when he head Antonio suddenly bursting out laughing.

"You are just lazy."

Romano stopped in his tracks and stared at him. Antonio seemed really amused.

"You actually understand everything pretty well, but you are just lazy."

"Not everything." Romano said rolling his eyes, "Physics is a bitch, History is boring and Latin makes me want to kill myself. I just understand math because… well, because I know how to handle money and how to earn with less effort. Who do you think runs this house? My father? Hah, not with the way he drinks at night." He added with a note of disappointment. Antonio didn't seem to notice, though, and just smiled widely at him.

"You are quite unique, did you know?" Antonio said laughing a little, "Well, that means I will pay the full rent then." He added pouting his lips like a little boy. Romano stared at him, unbelievable.

"5% is not that much, you know." Romano said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Wait! Are you going to tell dad?"

"Well, and if you are so clever why don't you do your homework at least?" Antonio asked teasingly. "It's just five minutes of your life."

"I don't really care if I don't finish high school. I don't have anything to do after… but you didn't answer my question, smarty pants!" Romano exclaimed pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Of course I will tell him!" Antonio said cheerful, "He will be so proud of you. He will wonder why you didn't put an effort sooner."

He stood up, and Romano slammed the books back on the desk and raised his hands to stop him. Antonio raised an eyebrow at him in question, and Romano took advantage of the stalling and pushed him in a sitting position.

"No, no, just no!" Romano exclaimed, "I don't want him to know."

"Why?" Antonio asked looking up at him in question, and Romano blushed.

"Mind your own fucking business." Romano said, "You are such a bastard, you know?" He crossed his arms over his chest, grabbed his books and made his way to the bed, all the while pointedly ignoring Antonio's eyes on his back. "I will stay here doing my homework while you do- whatever you college kids do." Romano spat lying down on the bed.

Antonio kept staring at him for a while, the smile not once leaving his lips, and Romano seriously thought the other was mocking him without really saying anything. He blushed and opened his book again, checking the rest of his homework and pretending to be really interested in what he needed to do.

He heard Antonio sigh then and mutter:

"5% is a big deal if you don't have a lot of money like I do."

"So we are both happy, right?" Romano muttered back. Antonio chuckled again, switched his laptop on and glanced at Romano again.

"Yeah, I guess." He said and smiled. "You can ask for help whenever you want."

"As if I would, bastard." Romano said and started reading. Antonio chuckled and returned back to his laptop.

"You do swear a lot, Lovino."

Romano just scoffed and finally started studying. He felt a little ridiculous at first, because it had been years since the last time he seriously put his ass down to do his homework, but soon enough he lost track of time and silence fell between them.

Romano didn't know when he fell asleep. He realized he did only when he opened his eyes and saw that Antonio was silently packing his books away. Romano remained silent and watched him, staring at the way his shoulder blades moved while he reached to get something from his desk. Romano didn't dwell much on it, and returned back to his exercises.

"It's Romano, by the way." Romano suddenly said. Antonio turned to look at him in surprise.

"What?"

"My first name." Romano said. "Lovino is my middle name."

"Oh." Antonio said and hang his backpack on his shoulder, "I like Lovino more."

Romano scoffed, closed his books and stood up.

"Yeah… she did too." He muttered to himself, and as if nothing was the matter stuck his tongue out at Antonio and left the room.

The next day when Romano went to school, he felt a little annoyed when his Math professor looked at him as if seeing a ghost when he solved the problem at the blackboard. He checked him twice before he decided he had no hidden notes in his sleeves. When he was done, Romano rolled his eyes at him and returned napping at the back of his class.

"Antonio must be a really good teacher!" Feliciano exclaimed when they met afterwards for lunch break. "Do you think he can help me out with History?"

"He is not a genius." Romano spat biting down on his sandwich. Feliciano looked a little put down at that, but didn't comment on it and continued eating his lunch.

"I wish they had pasta here." Feliciano complained after a while and picked at his poor looking salad. Romano scoffed and then looked at him, finally noticing that Feliciano seemed really sad about something. Romano knew it wasn't because of the salad and he honestly wanted to ask what was wrong, but he didn't feel comfortable enough to do so. He realized immediately what was troubling Feliciano when the other unconsciously looked up when Ludwig, the German bastard Romano hated with all his might, walked in the cafeteria followed by the new Japanese student.

Feliciano stared at him longingly for a while, until Romano couldn't take it anymore and slapped him hard on the back. Feliciano cried in pain and dropped the salad on the floor.

"What was that for?" Feliciano exclaimed. Romano widened his eyes at him:

"What was that for?" Romano mimicked, "What was _that_ for?" He repeated pointing at Ludwig, who was staring at them now (as most of the students did). Feliciano became red as a tomato at that and dropped on his knees to clean the floor from the salad.

"You are such a meanie, Romano!" Feliciano exclaimed. "I hate you."

"Did you two fight?" Romano asked in an angry hiss. "If he hurt you, I will-!"

Feliciano immediately rose to his feet and turned to look at Romano with a panicked expression on his face.

"Nonono." He said shaking his head. "I-! Well, I am-! No! We didn't fight."

Romano felt strangely relieved at that.

"Then what?" Romano asked, "You always cling to him like, like glue!" Romano thought it over for a moment and then smiled widely at his brother: "You finally understood he is a dickhead and you decided to stay away from him, right? Right?" He asked hopeful. "_Right_?"

Feliciano pouted.

"I don't know why you hate him so much, Romano." Feliciano said and left him for a moment to throw the rest of his lunch away, "He is really nice."

"Seriously?" Romano asked, "I couldn't tell with those murderous eyes and those big muscles of his. He looks as if he had evicted prison!"

"Ha ha." Feliciano mocked him, and then after a moment of silence: "Is this your way to tell me that I should speak to him?"

"What?" Romano exclaimed. "No!"

"Maybe I should." Feliciano continued as if Romano had not grabbed him by the shirt and looked ready to punch him.

"Okay, I will." Feliciano said with a smile. "Actually I will go right now." He added firmly, pushed Romano abruptly away and made a bee line to Ludwig.

"Feliciano!" Romano exclaimed, but it was pointless. Feliciano turned and stuck his tongue out childishly at him. Romano groaned, swallowed the last piece of his sandwich and walked angrily away.

That afternoon Romano lay on Antonio's bed with his homework on his lap, but he couldn't really focus on it. He kept talking nonstop about his brother, not really caring if Antonio was interested or not.

"My brother is such an idiot!" Romano exclaimed in the end. Antonio stopped trying typing on his laptop and turned to look at him.

"Why do you say that?" Antonio asked, "He seems really clever and cute."

Romano scoffed.

"Yes, right!" He exclaimed and rolled his eyes, "Especially when he is all over that bulky bastard as if his life depended on it!"

Antonio laughed a little at that.

"I think he is just in love, Lovino." Antonio said, "Let him be."

"Let him be?" Romano repeated widening his eyes, "Have you seen that man? Actually no. Forget it. Shouldn't you be studying or something?"

"Yes, probably." Antonio said and smiled at him, "Don't you?"

Romano stared at him for a long moment before he laid down on Antonio's pillow again.

"Yes. Mmm… yes. I should. Don't order me around, bastard!" Romano exclaimed. "You are unbelievable!"

Antonio laughed again and turned to his laptop once more. Romano stared at him for a while and then resumed his homework. He thought he wouldn't mind spending his afternoons that way. At least no one was bothering him with stories of bulky Germans or persisting that he washed the dishes or something. He was safe there.

And Antonio had actually really nice-looking shoulder blades.

Scratch that. Romano was tired and he didn't know what he was thinking.


	4. Chapter 4

One of the perks of being a college student was that Antonio could some days sleep in. He loved it when he could not give a damn about the clock ticking the time away on his bedside table and wake up when the sun was already up in the sky. That day it wasn't any different and he opened his eyes in such a good mood that he forgot that he was just renting a room in somebody else's house and not in his apartment back in his hometown, in Madrid.

He was very hungry so he didn't even think of putting a shirt on and happily made his way to the kitchen wondering what he should have for breakfast. He was humming a Ricky Martin's song while preparing a cup of coffee for himself when he suddenly felt somebody watching him. He turned around and his heart skipped a beat when he realized Romolo Vargas was leaning against the doorframe smiling amusedly at him. Antonio didn't let the fact he was just wearing his underwear embarrass him and grinned back:

"Coffee?"

"No class today?" Romolo asked sitting heavily down on a chair. "And no, thank you." He added with a soft smile. "I was actually going to prepare lunch."

"It's so late already?" Antonio asked sitting down himself and munching on some cookies he found in one of the cupboards. Romolo watched him for a while before saying:

"Lovino loves those as well." He laughed, "I guess I should buy more next time I go to the supermarket."

"Oh, sorry." Antonio said pushing the cookies away, "I thought those were mine!"

"No, eat them. Lovino won't even notice." Romolo said with a laugh and pushed them back in Antonio's direction. Antonio nodded grateful at him and took another one.

"Speaking of which." Romolo started again after a moment of silence, "How are the lessons with my Lovino going?"

Antonio almost spit his coffee right back, but he managed to look nonchalant (or at least, he hoped) as he looked at Romolo straight in the eyes.

"He is… doing okay." Antonio said thinking about the last past week when Lovino had done nothing more than come to his room every day with all his books under his armpit, nod at him, put his earphones on and scribble his homework down while lying on Antonio's bed. Antonio didn't mind him, really, and Lovino looked so cute when he fell asleep on his books.

"He is not pissing you off, is he?" Romolo asked honestly concerned and waking up Antonio from his daydreaming.

"Not always." Antonio said, deciding that he should be truthful, "He swears a lot, but I think that makes him cuter."

"Cuter, huh?" Romolo asked and burst out laughing. When he finally calmed down, Romolo continued: "Tell me if he torments you, though. I know he can really be a pain in the ass, sometimes."

"Of course." Antonio said. He knew that if he told Romolo Lovino was tormenting him he would immediately tell him to stop tutoring, but Antonio didn't really mind having Lovino in the room with him when he was studying. He actually caught Lovino staring at him sometimes, and the way he blushed when caught red-handed amused Antonio a lot. He actually liked it, and he sometimes couldn't refrain from comparing Lovino to a juicy red tomato when that happened. Antonio loved tomatoes. He should have some for lunch…

"It's a phase that we both have been through, right?"

Antonio hadn't realized Romolo had started talking to him and he immediately tried to look attentive. He wondered if Romolo noticed him spacing out, but the older man seemed in his own world as well.

"Teenagers think that their problems are so big and unsolvable." Romolo continued, "Everything it's really simple in our eyes, and there is such a big lack of communication between them and us it's obvious they can't stand us sometimes. But, you know, Antonio…" Romolo said raising his eyes to look at him, "Life is always full of obstacles and all of them at some point disappear completely from our memory. One day we think something is going to ruin our life forever, the next you realize that there are things much more important that what troubled us yesterday feels like it never happened."

"I understand." Antonio said even if he didn't because he wasn't paying attention. Romolo's lips quirked up in a soft smile.

"No one can tell, but Lovino is actually the one more open with his feelings than Feliciano." Romolo said, and that made Antonio raised his eyebrow in question.

"Are you sure?" Antonio asked even if it was stupid asking. Romolo was their father, after all! "Feliciano is so sociable! He smiles a lot and has always something to say! If I don't tease Lovino a little, if I don't take him to the edge, Lovino would just stay there moping!"

Romolo laughed again at that and reached across the table to pat Antonio on the back.

"I know it looks like that!" Romolo exclaimed with a big grin, "But that's exactly the point! Feliciano bottles everything inside and he doesn't let anyone know his real thoughts. That what makes him likeable to everyone because everyone thinks he shares their opinion! He is really diplomatic, unless you really piss him off, and you don't want to see that happen. With Feliciano I don't know when he is pretending he is fine or if he is indeed fine, because when something hurts him, he can still smile as if nothing was the matter. Lovino is not like that." Romolo said, paused and then smiled: "When he is angry, he shows it. When he doesn't like something, he says it. When something embarrasses him, he stumbles on his words. When he doesn't want to admit something, he blushes and says the exact opposite thing of what he really thinks, and once you know him, you learn to read between the lines and understand his every mood-swing."

"That's sounds actually quite complicated." Antonio said rather confused. Romolo shrugged.

"Lovino is full of contradictions." Romolo said and suddenly looked sad, "I guess he got more introvert when their mother died."

"Oh." Antonio furrowed his eyebrows, not really knowing what to say. Romolo smiled at him and patted him again on the back.

"Don't mind me. I just like to talk about my boys a lot." Romolo said and stood up. He stretched his arms and added: "I am going to prepare something to eat. Why don't you go and put some clothes on before they return from school?"

"Oh." Antonio said and stood abruptly up, almost dropping the empty cup on the floor. "Sorry!" He exclaimed and made to leave. Then he stopped, returned back and put the cup in the sink and the rest of the cookies in the cupboard before he left again. Romolo laughed at the scene and started cutting the vegetables.

That afternoon, long after lunch and siesta, Antonio sat down before the computer without being in the mood to do anything. Lovino was lying on his bed, as always, and was flipping the pages rather loudly. Antonio opened the file where he had the project he had to submit soon, read the first few lines and closed it again. He was wondering if he should call his friend Francis to go out for a drink, when Lovino groaned loudly behind him.

Antonio raised an eyebrow in question and turned to look at him. Lovino was staring at him with narrowed eyes, his earphones long forgotten lying next to Antonio's clock on the bedside table.

"What?" Antonio asked. At that Lovino's lips turned into a thin line.

"Stop that. You are distracting me." Lovino said. Antonio tilted his head in question and looked around him to see what exactly he was doing that frustrated Lovino so much.

"I am not doing anything." Antonio said. Lovino smirked.

"Exactly." Lovino said. "It's not fair from your part if I am here working my ass off while you chill out on your chair, bastard."

"Do you want me to help you out with something?" Antonio asked because he didn't want to admit Lovino was actually right.

"Of course not." Lovino spat as if Antonio suggested something lecherous. Antonio sighed, stood up and made his way to where Lovino was lying down. Lovino narrowed his eyes at him again, but stood up straighter as if afraid Antonio was going to do something to him.

Antonio didn't actually know what he was doing until he sat down next to Lovino and took his notebook from him.

"Hey!" Lovino immediately protested, "Give that fucking back!"

"You are doodling." Antonio commented laughing and stretched his arms away from Lovino's grasping hands. "Is that what you call 'working your ass off'?"

"Fuck you." Lovino spat and reached to take his notebook back. His chest rubbed against Antonio's one in the process and when that happened Lovino immediately retreated at the far end of the bed holding his belongings against him.

Antonio furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding what the matter was. Lovino just stared at him for a long, silent moment, and Antonio took the opportunity to study Lovino's face.

"M-mind your fucking business, okay? D-damn it!" Lovino exclaimed.

"I was just trying to help you." Antonio said with a smile and then he suddenly noticed something. Lovino had stumbled on his own words, and he suddenly remembered Romolo's words to him that same morning. Antonio felt so aghast by his discovery that he didn't realize Lovino was calling him different names in anger.

"What?"

"I said that I don't fucking want your help, alright? So take your a-ass from this bed and leave me alone!" Lovino exclaimed. Antonio gazed at him for a long while and then he suddenly felt warm in the stomach.

It was really cute, the way Lovino was trying to move away from him, and Antonio realized that maybe he should look at Lovino's behavior from another point of view. He took Lovino's book and opened it at the page he supposed the younger man was trying to study.

"Oh, yeah, the Inquisition days…" he said and noticed Lovino perk up at that. Antonio smiled. "Do you want me to help you out with these history questions? I was pretty good at history."

"R-really?" Lovino asked and then he suddenly looked away, "I mean, who cares."

Antonio's smile widened at that and his heart skipped a beat. He really thought he was making progress with Lovino's moods.

"The first question is actually pretty easy." Antonio tried again. Lovino looked away, lost in thought and then he shrugged as if he didn't give a damn.

"I don't give a damn." He said but still scooted closer to where Antonio was sitting. Antonio smiled widely and moved a little to let Lovino some space. Lovino seemed really grateful at that, even if he didn't want to admit it, and actually stayed silent as Antonio explained.

It wasn't as if Romano was actually listening, though. He was trying to figure the college student out, and he was pissed off when he realized he couldn't understand what Antonio was actually thinking. Romano was so sure Antonio didn't like him (because, well, who did?) and he was always taken aback when Antonio tried to be nice to him when others would have just given up.

Romano stared at his History book and then his eyes travelled up to Antonio's veins on his hands. He tried hard to pay attention and for a while he managed it.

"Good so far?" Antonio asked, and Romano nodded. He looked up to Antonio's face and was taken aback by the smile on the other's lips. He stared at them for a while before he coughed and looked away, hoping Antonio hadn't noticed. The older man just smiled widely and returned back to Lovino's question.

He smiled because he knew.


	5. Chapter 5

The day Romano had to reconsider his priorities started pretty simply. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, he was more shocked on the fact he had priorities to reconsider in the first place. Everything started as soon as he woke up and saw Feliciano silently dressing himself in the far corner of the room they shared together. Romano stared at him for a long moment, enjoying those brief seconds where the mind doesn't know whether is still dreaming or waking up, before he actually raised an eyebrow and stated:

"You didn't wake me up."

Feliciano looked startled back, but then grinned widely at him and hastily hid something in his backpack.

"You are now." Feliciano said nonchalantly. "Come on, we are going to be late for class if you stay in bed all day, veh!"

"Veh my ass." Romano muttered and wondered if it would be an alright thing to just turn his back at his brother and continue sleeping. He actually would have done just that if he something really weird going on hadn't crossed his mind just then and there. He bolted in a sitting position and staring suspiciously at Feliciano still preparing his backpack he exclaimed:

"Why aren't you bothering me?"

Feliciano was taken aback by Romano's sudden cry and tilted his head at him in question.

"What?"

"Something is wrong here." Romano said and immediately stood up making a bee line to where Feliciano was standing. Feliciano unconsciously clutched his backpack to his chest and stared at him with wide hazel eyes. "Spill it! What are you fucking hiding from me?"

"Nothing!" Feliciano exclaimed making a step back and avoiding Romano's grasping hands. "Go dress! We need to go to school!"

"School my ass, Feliciano!" Romano exclaimed enquiring his eyebrow, "It's been sixteen years since I know you and you never, ever let me sleep in! So spill it, damn it!"

"DAD!" Feliciano suddenly cried out. Romano rolled his eyes, but just in that moment, as if on cue, Romolo abruptly opened the door and stared at them with alarm in his eyes.

"What is going on?" Romolo asked worried, scanning the room in search of any danger lurking in some corner.

"Dad, Romano is-!"

"Got it!" Romano exclaimed taking the opportunity to grab Feliciano's backpack and rummage through his things. Feliciano tried to take his belongings back, but Romano was faster.

"Romano, give Feliciano his backpack!" Romolo exclaimed out of habit, even if he couldn't grasp what exactly was going on. Romano grinned as he finally took out the pack of paper Feliciano was trying to hide. He quickly went through the pages and then raised an eyebrow at Feliciano, who was purposely avoiding his glance.

"What is this? Since when you are learning how to play piano?" Romano asked pointing the pages full with musical notes at Feliciano in an offensive manner.

"Is that it?" Romolo asked rolling his eyes to the ceiling, "I thought something bad had happened!"

"Since today!" Feliciano exclaimed affronted and grasped the scores Romano was holding back. "Dad told me I should start lessons with Mr. Roderick and-!"

"Dad did what?" Romano asked affronted and abruptly turned to his father staring at him straight in the eyes. Romolo made a step back and smiled widely at his older son.

"Come on, breakfast is ready!" Romolo exclaimed with a nervous laugh, but when he tried to back away out of the room, Romano spoke again:

"Care to explain why when I asked you if I could take guitar lessons you told me that we didn't have enough money, but now you don't have any problems letting Feliciano take piano lessons?"

"Oh, come on, Lovino. It's not a big deal. Feliciano wanted to start a hobby and Mr. Roderick doesn't want to be paid a lot…" Romolo trailed off, "Anyway, aren't you supposed to go to school now?"

"You are a bastard!" Romano exclaimed ignoring how Romolo was trying to change topic of conversation, "I hate you. It's because you think Feliciano is more talented than I am, right? Screw you."

"Romano, just dress up and go to school." Romolo said with a sigh. "We are going to talk about this later."

"I don't fucking care." Romano spat and put the first things he could find in the wardrobe. "I don't want to talk to you ever again!"

"Romano." Romolo said suddenly authoritative. "You never take anything seriously and you always change ideas after a month. Feliciano, on the other hand, is more constant in his decisions than you are, but if you really want to start taking guitar lessons, we-!"

"Too late, dad." Romano's said quickly putting some books in his backpack and staring at his father in anger. "I get it. I would have just wasted money on it, while Feliciano is likely to become a professional and earn everything back. Fine, whatever."

"That's not-!" Romolo exclaimed but Romano just passed by him without another glance. "Hey, this conversation is not over yet!"

"It is for me!" Romano shouted from the kitchen. He angrily stepped inside and grabbed the first eatable thing he could find (which was a half-eaten pizza from the day before). He was so angry at the world he didn't notice that Antonio was in the kitchen too, quietly sipping coffee leaned against the counter.

"Hey, it's everything alright?"

Romano bolted up in shock when he realized Antonio was there with him. He blinked at the older smiling man for a while before he spat:

"It's not your fucking business."

"I heard you shouting." Antonio said.

"I do that a lot." Romano just answered back and made to leave when Romolo came in with Feliciano in tow.

"Lovino, this is not the way to treat your family. I love you and I want the best from you, you know that."

"You have a weird way of showing it." Romano spat and angrily ran way. Feliciano was still holding his backpack against his chest and was staring at his dad with worry in his eyes.

"It's my fault, I should have just told him!"

"Don't worry, Feliciano." Romolo said with a smile. "Go, you are going to be late."

Feliciano hesitated a little bit, but then nodded and followed Romano out. Romolo looked at them go and then dropped heavily on a chair, sighing loudly.

"Mr. Vargas?" Antonio asked just in that moment, shaking Romolo out of his thoughts.

"Oh, Antonio. I didn't see you there." Romolo said with a smile. Antonio tilted his head in question and asked, with a tang of worry in his voice:

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Romolo said. "Teenagers, you know." He said waving his hand nonchalantly, "Don't you need to go to lecture?"

"Yes." Antonio honestly answered. "Don't you need to go to work?"

"I am not going today." Romolo said with a laugh, and Antonio dropped the matter there.

On the other hand, Romano brood over the matter for the whole day and remained in a bad mood for most of it. He purposely avoided Feliciano whenever they happened to meet in the corridors and switched his cellphone off in case either his brother or his dad wanted to talk to him in that way. He couldn't believe how his father could do that to him and show such a preference to Feliciano. He couldn't stop thinking about it, and he didn't pay attention to any of his classes. When school day was finally over, Romano decided to just not return home until late in the night.

He thought it would serve his father right to let him wallow in worry back home, staring at the clock ticking the time away and wondering where his older son was. Romano entertained himself with the idea for a while until he realized that his father probably wouldn't care. The though made him suddenly sad and his resolution of not returning home became stronger.

He managed to avoid Feliciano on his way out of school as well and took the first bus that would take him to the center of the city. He ate a hot-dog on the way and passed the time in an internet-café to forget his anger. It took him two hours of playing an online game and three hours of flirting with girls in the park to forget his anger.

In the end he even had fun and it was already late in the evening when Romano decided he had tortured his father enough and he could finally return home. He was doing just that, humming a song to himself with no care in the world, when somebody suddenly honked at him. He raised an eyebrow in question and looked at the car stopping next to him in alarm.

"Hey, Lovino!" Antonio exclaimed from inside the car. Romano was taken aback by Antonio's sudden appearance and hesitantly approached the car. "Are you still out this late?" Antonio asked and motioned him to get in. "Get in. I'll take you home."

"Thanks God, I am exhausted!" Romano exclaimed and sat in the passenger's seat. "This car is shit, Antonio bastard." Romano immediately added meddling with Antonio's radio. "Can't you buy a newer one?"

"Nope, still poor." Antonio said with a laugh and started the engine. "How was your day?"

Romano enquired his eyebrows, but tried to hide the fact that such a simple question had shocked him.

"Mind your own business." Romano said and stretched his legs stepping with his feet on the airbag location. Antonio didn't comment on it and kept driving with a smile on his face as Romano took his cellphone out and started checking if he had any lost call or messages.

"Feliciano called me twenty times." Romano commented to himself. "My father just once." He added with bitterness in his voice. At that Antonio shot a glance at him and asked:

"You stayed out all day?"

Romano was taken aback by it and looked at Antonio with suspicion.

"Did my father tell you to search for me?"

"No." Antonio said with a laugh, "I've been in the University all day long. I happened to see you there."

"Oh." Romano said trying to hide his disappointment. "Of course."

"Feliciano and your father must have been sick with worry." Antonio added then. Romano shrugged.

"I bet not." Romano said. "They don't really care about me."

"And still they tried to reach you on your phone." Antonio said cheerfully stopping at a traffic light. "That's weird!"

Romano didn't comment on that.

"I heard you fighting this morning." Antonio said, his voice suddenly serious, and Romano glanced at him with the corner of his eye.

"It was nothing." Romano spat. "My father had just showed me how he doesn't give a flying fuck about me once more, that's all there was to it."

"I am sure that's not true." Antonio said. "He seems to have a soft spot for you."

Romano pouted and put his phone away, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He probably had a good reason not to let you go to guitar lessons." Antonio continued after a while when he realized that Romano wasn't going to speak up any sooner.

"How much did you hear?" Romano asked taken aback, "You looked so oblivious this morning! Bastard, you lied to us!" He exclaimed pointing and accusing finger at Antonio. The older man just laughed.

"I told you I heard you shouting." Antonio just said. "I wasn't lying."

Romano narrowed his eyes at him.

"Whatever!" He exclaimed. "My father just told me one month ago that we couldn't afford guitar lessons for me, but when Feliciano asked for piano lessons he is all up to it! It's unfair, damn it! But I am angrier at Feliciano for hiding it from me!"

"He probably knew you would get angry." Antonio said and parked the car in front of the Vargas' house.

"Yes, but still!" Romano exclaimed, "It looked like they conspired behind my back!"

Antonio shook his head amused and touched Romano's shoulder while holding the steering wheel with the other hand.

"Come on, your dad probably has a good explanation for everything. Let's go, okay?" He said with a smile. Romano stared at him and then raised an eyebrow at Antonio's hand on his shoulder. He didn't try to slap him away and the realization he didn't want to, ever, made him feel suddenly very warm in the face.

"O-Okay…" He heard himself say and his heart skipped a beat when Antonio's smile became wider.

"Good! Let's go!" Antonio exclaimed and got out of the car. Romano mentally slapped himself and followed him outside to their home as if drawn to a foreign force. As if on cue the front door suddenly slammed open as soon as they reached the porch, and Feliciano looked at the both with red-rimmed eyes.

"Oh, Romano! Where have you been?" Feliciano exclaimed, "I've been calling you but your phone was switched off!"

"I wasn't in the mood." Romano just said stepping in the house and dropping his backpack on the ground. "It's nice to know you cared enough to call." He muttered under his breath. Feliciano didn't seem to hear him and grabbed him by the shoulder forcing Romano to look at the tears on his cheeks.

"Dad wasn't home when I came back from piano lesson! And he didn't answer to my calls either! I've been waiting for hours and half an hour ago they called from the pub telling me to go fetch him!" Feliciano exclaimed and sniffed, "Romano! He had been there all day!"

"What?" Romano asked surprised, and then a little more panicked: "What?"

"Romano, I am sorry for not telling you." Feliciano said suddenly bursting out crying, "And I am sorry that dad let me go to Mr. Roderick, but I needed a distraction! You don't know how bad I am feeling these days, you don't have the slightest idea of what I am going through, but dad noticed and decided that it would be better for me to do something else. I am sorry for not telling you!"

"What is going on?" Romano asked suddenly afraid. "What is going on, Feliciano?"

"I-!"

"You probably should talk about it later." Antonio suddenly piped in, touching Romano's shoulder. "First we need to take your dad home."

Romano abruptly turned to look at him and they stared at each for an everlasting moment. Romano's heart start beating loudly in his chest, and the way Antonio was smiling at him suddenly calmed him down.

"I am going to get him." Antonio said, and the two brothers look at him in surprise. "I have a car, it's not much of a problem."

"Yes, you do that." Romano said sounding like he was ordering Antonio to. Antonio smiled because he suddenly recognized the worry in Romano's voice.

"Your dad is fine." Antonio said encouragingly. "He probably drank a little bit too much. Now, where is the pub?"

When Antonio arrived at the address Lovino had given him, he was surprised to see he was standing before an inconspicuous looking pub. Everything was so silent that Antonio wondered for a moment if it all had been a bad joke. He parked and quickly made his way inside the pub immediately scanning the room for Romolo. He found him lying on one of the wooden benches at the far end of the pub and Antonio hesitantly poked him away.

"A-Antonio?" Romolo said, his eyes going in and out of focus. "How did you get here?"

"They called from the pub. Lovino is really worried."

"Lovino?" Romolo repeated with half lidded eyes, "Lovino hates me."

"No, he doesn't." Antonio said and grabbed Romolo's arm prodding him to stand up. "Come on, your sons are waiting for you."

Romolo didn't put up any resistance and quietly followed Antonio outside to the car. Antonio helped him get in, and Romolo put his feet in front of him on the airbag location as soon as he sat down, the position strange for someone so big. Antonio imperceptibly smiled at that and got into the driver's seat.

"Romano is right to be mad at me…" Romolo suddenly whispered, his eyes half closed and unfocused. "It was unfair from my part, but it's true we really don't have enough money."

Antonio drove quietly for a while before he couldn't take it anymore.

"So why did you let Feliciano take piano lessons?"

Romolo remained silent for a moment, and Antonio thought he had fallen asleep when suddenly the older man spoke again:

"I used to be powerful once… I was strong and I could deal with everything." Romolo said and suddenly laughed, turning to face Antonio: "Now look at me. Drinking myself to forget…"

"Forget what?" Antonio whispered.

"My wife." Romolo said. "She used to give me so much strength. Now look at me. I can't stop drinking since the day she got into that accident while driving to get our sons from school. The bastard got away with it." He said between sobs.

Antonio didn't know what to say to that, but Romolo didn't seem to be in the mood for real conversations.

"She loved Lovino a lot. She was the one who came out with his middle name, you know." He added with a drunken smile, "From love… Lovino. She thought it was cute and always called him like that even if she didn't mind the name Romano either."

"Oh." Antonio said and glanced at him.

"I feel I am going to lose them." Romolo said, "But I can't stop drinking. I want to find somebody to take care of them. Mr. Roderick is a good man and he knows Feliciano for a long time… when I asked if he could take lessons with him, he didn't ask for a lot of money."

"What about Lovino?"

Romolo remained silent for a moment.

"I searched for a guitar teacher for a long time, for someone to take care of him after I am gone." Romolo finally admitted. "Everyone was so damn expensive, and at school no one gives a damn about him because he doesn't excel in any subject!"

"You are not going to die, Mr. Vargas." Antonio said matter-of-fact. Romolo shrugged and just stared outside at the passing cars. "Lovino is pretty good in math, you know." Antonio suddenly said. "He doesn't need my help at all."

Romolo suddenly laughed:

"I know." Romolo said. "He took after me." He grinned, "I know he is pretending, and I hoped assigning him to a tutor would frustrate him so much that he would actually stop. I was wrong." He grinned and sobbed at the same time. "Sorry about that."

"No problem." Antonio said.

"Did he tell you why he pretends?" Romolo asked suddenly hopeful, but Antonio shook his head no.

"He doesn't trust me with his secrets." Antonio said. "I guess I am too old for him."

"Mmm…" Romolo said. "He would have told his mother, if she was still alive." Romolo remained silent for a while before he added: "I should have died instead, she would have done perfectly without me."

"Don't say that." Antonio said. "Lovino and Feliciano need you now. You don't know how worried sick they were. Stop pulling such tricks on them, it is not fair."

But Romolo was already fast asleep.

When Antonio and Romolo finally arrived home, only Feliciano was there waiting for them.

"I am so sorry you are going through with this." Feliciano said taking Romolo's arm and helping Antonio out. "You are just a guest here."

"It's okay." He said and looked around the room, "Where's Romano?"

"He is in his room." Feliciano said. "I will take dad to sleep now. Thank you…" he added in a whisper and walked away with his arm around his father's waist.

Antonio nodded and went to Feliciano and Romano's room but when he opened the door he saw no one. He opened the door to his own room instead and he finally saw Romano lying in his bed. He softly smiled at that and then sat down next to him, his movement waking Romano up.

"Fuck!" Romano exclaimed standing up but Antonio smiled at him to calm him down.

"Your father is here. He is fine." Antonio said. "He told me he doesn't feel well anymore and that he wants to find someone to take care of you. He thought Mr. Roderick would be a good choice for Feliciano, but he couldn't find anyone for you. So stop thinking he doesn't appreciate you enough."

Romano stared at him for a while and then shrugged.

"I-I don't care."

"Do you want something to eat?" Antonio asked out of the blue. "I am going to cook some pasta, if you like."

Romano stared at nothing for a while before he imperceptibly nodded. Antonio smiled widely at him and patted him on the back.

"Let's go then." Antonio said and stood up. Romano watched him go but before Antonio could open the door he said:

"Do you…" Romano gulped, "Do you mind if I sleep here today?"

"Huh?" Antonio asked turning around. "Err.. sure. It was your room after all."

"I mean-! Err…" Romano trailed off suddenly becoming very red.

"I can take the couch or stay with Feliciano for a night. No problem." Antonio said with a grin. Romano shook his head and his hands tightened into fists.

"No, you- you can stay here." Romano said. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Okay." Antonio said unsure.

"I am not mad at Feliciano." Romano suddenly blurted out. "I mean, I am actually angry at myself for not noticing there was something wrong with him in the first place. I thought-! Oh, what the hell I am telling you. Don't fucking bother." Romano said with a pout and got out of bed.

"Let's go eat dinner, Lovino." Antonio said then. Romano raised his eyes to him and then dropped his gaze on his hands.

"I will not bother you anymore." Romano suddenly whispered. "I will not do my homework in your room anymore. You just rent a room here, and I shouldn't bother you with this stuff. In fact, you should mind your own fucking business and concentrate on your studies or whatever you do in your fucking time." Romano stated. "My family problems are my problems, and you don't have any place in them. Thank you for today, okay? But it's the last time. I won't bother you anymore."

"Okay, Lovino." Antonio said and opened the door. Romano nodded and finally got out of Antonio's bed. When he was next to Antonio, the older man suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and said:

"You don't need to carry the whole world on your shoulder."

Romano turned to look at him, startled, but then smiled sarcastically.

"That's a stupid thing to say."

Antonio just laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. Before we go on with the story, I want to do something, my fellow readers. What I want to do is apologize. Yes, you read right. Apologize. For what you may ask? And I can already hear the people answering "For the late updates" in my head. But that's not it. I want to apologize because I was a step close to leave the fandom. I was so close to leave Hetalia forever. These past months it didn't appeal to me anymore, I had (and still have) more important issues to take care of in my real life that the love I had for Spamano, Gerita, for Hetalia is general was slowly disappearing. But one day, a day I went through shit and I couldn't take it anymore, I decided to sit in front of the computer and surf the internet. And then I started watching Hetalia cosplay skits. I clicked on Hetalia AMV after AMV and you know what happened? My inner fangirl woke up. She looked at me with a frown that would make Romano proud and holding her Spain-plushy against her chest told me: "What were you thinking?". Yes, what was I thinking? Just because I felt like I can't write something as good as "Singles" or "Dance with me" I was going to quit? Who cares if these new stories don't have enough reviews? Who cares if I feel like my ideas are not good enough? I love Hetalia. I love Spain. I love Romano. I love them all and here I was going to leave them. I fell in love with Hetalia all over again when it made me smile while everything else was driving me crazy. That is why I want to apologize. I wasn't Happymood before, but now I am back, and even if I will still update later than I used to do, I am not leaving. I will write these stories for fun as I always had and share them with you. Because I don't only love Hetalia. I love all my readers. I love you. So, thank you.**

**_Happymood **

**PS. The Spamano is so slow here. I know. Sorry about that as well. XD**

Romano's next step was obvious.

If his brother wasn't going to tell him what was wrong, he needed to find it on his own. By stalking him perhaps, which was a better way than scare him to death (Feliciano was a damn fast runner, after all). He thought about it all night, the plans racing one after the other in his mind, and sometimes wondering if he should do something for his father too. Of course, Romano in the end realized that was a lost cause, so it was better to stick to Feliciano instead. Just to tell himself he could achieve _something _at least.

At one point, when he was one step close in finding the perfect solution, he fell asleep and all his good plans went down the drain, completely forgotten in such recess of his mind. That was why the next morning he woke up in a very, very bad mood. His brother, his father and Antonio were already sitting in the kitchen having breakfast when Romano decided to finally join them.

What shocked him was not the fact that Feliciano hadn't dared bother him again that morning, but the way Romolo seemed to be shining like a gazillions of suns even if he was evidently going through a hangover. Romano wondered if his father was sane, but doubted it, if the way Romolo was happily eating French toasts was of any indication. His father looked blissful as if the tears and all the shit they went through the previous night had been just a bad dream.

"What the hell?" Romano exclaimed because he needed to exclaim something. The three other men of the house turned to look at him with different expressions on their faces. Feliciano was sheepish, Romolo was beaming and Antonio…. Well, Romano wasn't in the mood to describe Antonio in any way, thank you very much.

"Oh, good morning!" Romolo exclaimed and waved at Romano to sit in front of him, which happened to be next to Antonio. Romano glanced at the guest, who smiled widely at him back, before making up his mind and sitting down. Suddenly two hands offered him a plate of freshly made French toasts, and Romano looked up at Romolo and Antonio in question. The two older men stared at each other for a while before Antonio took his plate away and let Romolo serve Romano breakfast.

"Eat, Lovino!" Romolo exclaimed with a wide grin, "You must be hungry!"

Romano stared at him for a long, awkward moment and then turned to face Feliciano, who just shrugged.

"Dad made them." Feliciano said as if finding out who had prepared breakfast that morning would immediately answer all Romano's questions. "They are delicious." Feliciano added then, and Romano realized it was some kind of messed up apology to him for not telling him anything about the piano lessons.

"Thanks." Romano whispered and started eating, completely unaware of the three men smiling widely as soon as he took his first bite.

"I didn't want to wake you up." Romolo said unexpectedly, "I thought you needed some break of some sort after yesterday, so if you don't want to go to school, you may stay at home."

Romano almost chocked on his food at that, but the way Antonio immediately patted him on the back (long fingers caressing that spot just under his nape) weren't helping in the least. Romano shoved Antonio away (because damn it, this was serious and he needed to concentrate) and stared at his father with eyes wide as saucers.

"Seriously?!" He exclaimed. The glance Feliciano threw his way meant he had no clue what was going on either.

"Yes." Romolo said his wide grin slowly turning into a soft smile. "I am really sorry about what you had to go through."

Romano and Feliciano shared looks.

"I had a revelation yesterday!" Romolo suddenly exclaimed and stretched his hands over his head as if he was just talking about the weather. "And I will go to work today. Actually, I will not miss a single day starting today…. and I will bring pizza for dinner!"

"For real?" Feliciano asked with a wide smile. "I hadn't had pizza for ages!"

"We had some last week, remember?" Romano said a little sarcastically but with his heart beating madly against his chest. He didn't know why but he shot Antonio a glance. The older man noticed, and turned to face him and smiled. Romano stared at the way the other was beaming, and he was suddenly aware that Antonio probably had lent a hand in the matter.

There was no way Romolo had decided to behave properly out of the blue. All by himself.

"So, Romano." His father suddenly said, waking Romano from his Antonio-staring. "Are you going to school?"

"Yes." Romano immediately retorted. He gulped as he made himself stare at anything else but Antonio's hands resting on the table. "But Feliciano must go as well, of course." He added as an afterthought.

"WHAT?" Feliciano immediately exclaimed. "Why?" He whined, "I wanted to stay home!"

"I am the older brother! I decide what you want to do!" Romano exclaimed immediately, "So shut up!"

"It's not fair!" Feliciano whined. Romolo giggled and Antonio just kept smiling softly at him. Romano didn't want to admit that of all the things the latter bothered him the most, but maybe not as much as Antonio saying, after a small pause:

"Great, I will take you there by car on my way to college."

Romano sure chocked on his French toast then, but he didn't want to deal on it too much. Free ride, who cared? So back to business. There was a reason he wanted Feliciano to go to school, and as soon as they stepped inside school grounds he immediately put his plans into action.

Well, not immediately. He had class, after all.

Romano tried to stalk his brother after class, but all he managed to find out was that Feliciano really liked that macho-potato-head more than everything, which wasn't such a revelation after all. At one point he lost him at lunch time, only to realize that Feliciano had understood Romano was stalking him and started stalking Romano in return.

Crazy game, that one.

"What do you want, Romano?" Feliciano asked angrily when they bumped into each other at one point, "Didn't you torture me enough already? I learnt my lesson!"

"What lesson?" Romano spat back because he hated being caught. "I was just minding my own business."

"Yes, of course." Feliciano said, his voice strangely cheerful but his stance defensive, his hands crossed against his chest. "Like I believe you."

Romano stared at him defiantly for a while before looking away and scowling.

"I am not mad at you, okay?" Romano spat, "In fact, I don't fucking care. So suck it."

Feliciano blinked at him and his arms dropped.

"Really?" Feliciano asked. Romano rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Don't you have any class to attend now?" Romano asked angrily, "Because I do, damn it. So get out of my way!"

"Oh, Romano!" Feliciano exclaimed and suddenly hugged him close. "Let's go home together afterwards!"

"Jeez, leave me alone." Romano said and pushed him away. Feliciano beamed and practically hopped away. Romano watched him leave and decided to be a little stealthier next time. Feliciano knew him too well, and if Romano wanted to find out what was wrong with him he needed to be as sly as a fox.

Romano was so caught up in his daydreaming that he wasn't looking where he was going, so it came to him as a surprise when he suddenly bumped into somebody else again. For a moment Romano thought it was Feliciano again, but then he realized that the man he bumped into was much more muscular and tall.

"What the hell, bastard! Where the heck do you have your mind?" Romano exclaimed angrily picking up his backpack that had dropped on the floor from the sudden collision.

"Sorry." The other guy said, his voice quiet but not at all timid. "I was thinking about cats again."

"Cats? What the fuck?" Romano repeated and raised an eyebrow, staring at the other student in question. Green eyes looked down at him, and Romano's heart skipped a beat at the resemblance with other eyes he knew now too well.

"Are you hurt?" The guy asked.

"Huh?" Romano blinked, "You are not _that_ strong."

"Oh, good. See you around then." The other said and lazily picked up his own backpack and walked away. Romano stared at his retreating back and shrugged.

"Weirdo." Romano whispered to himself and all plans of following Feliciano around flew out of the window.

Feliciano seemed as happy-go-lucky as ever when that afternoon they made their way back home together. Even if Feliciano talked four thousand words a minute (Romano had counted), his lips were tightly shut whenever Romano tried to drift the conversation to Feliciano's admission the day before.

They arrived at home hungry like the wolf, and they were both surprised when they realize that Romolo had indeed kept his word and had brought pizza after work. Romano didn't want to admit he felt strangely happy. He didn't want to admit it because he was scared that if he said it all the happiness he felt would disappear immediately. It happened many times before, and Romano ended up believing that that emotion wasn't for him, in the end. Maybe happiness was everlasting for stupid people like his brother and his father, for example. Or Antonio.

"Are you staying for dinner, Antonio?" Romolo asked at one point when they were setting the table all together and Antonio happened to pass by. Romano looked up at the other guy from where he was arguing with Feliciano whether forks should go at the right or at the left side of the plate.

("Who the fuck cares, Feliciano! Pizza should be eaten with your hands! Not with forks!" to which Feliciano retorted: "Mom taught us to use forks!" and won the argument).

"No, thank you, Mr. Vargas." Antonio said with a smile. "It's Friday evening and me and my friends are thinking of going out tonight."

"Oh, great for you." Romolo said in that tone of voice that meant he really didn't care but he wanted to be nice. "Have fun!"

"Thank you." Antonio said and then his eyes met Romano's. The younger man immediately looked away and started arguing with Feliciano again.

("You are too young to drink wine, Feliciano!"

"Says who?"

"Me." Their father piped in.)

The three of them ate together like a family again, and for a while Romano felt like when he was kid again. For a couple of hours they laughed and argued together like they used to and Romano could forget about the world, only…

He couldn't.

There was a guy in his room he needed to talk to, after all.

After dinner, Romano managed to leave the kitchen before either his brother or father could start playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who was going to wash the dishes (why the dishwasher never won was still a mystery).

Antonio wasn't in the room when Romano opened the door to his old bedroom. He wondered whether Antonio had already left or not when he heard a cough behind him. He turned around and he came face to face with Antonio's naked chest dropping wet.

"Oh, Jesus!" Romano exclaimed and made a step backwards. Antonio chuckled and stepped inside the room with only a towel around his waist. Romano stared at the other's shoulder blades and his eyes trailed up to that single drop of water that didn't want to fall somewhere in Antonio's hair.

"You wanted something?"

"Y-yes." Romano coughed and looked away when Antonio turned to look at him. "What did you tell my father yesterday?"

Antonio enquired his eyebrows and sat down on the bed. Romano obviously did his best not to check whether the towel had opened up or not (and oh, God. What was he thinking?).

"I didn't tell him anything." Antonio said.

"Oh, come on!" Romano exclaimed and opened his arms in frustration. "You obviously did because my dad can't figure he needs to stop being a dickhead on his own!"

"You don't give him enough credit, Lovino." Antonio said looking at him, and, damn it, Romano was staring at those green eyes again. (Please, heart, stop beating.) "He knows you are good in Math, for instance." Antonio added after a moment.

"He what?" Romano exclaimed and blinked stupidly at him. "You didn't-!"

"You told me that I shouldn't care about your family business and I am not, Lovino." Antonio continued. "Why should I tell him anything?"

"He knew all along?" Romano asked feeling as if somebody slapped him.

"Still he couldn't figure it out why you are hiding it." Antonio added then slipping a t-shirt over his head. (Of course, the towel was still there, not that Romano was checking). Antonio suddenly stared at him: "You are not bullied, are you?"

"What?" Romano exclaimed, "Of course not."

"Then what?" Antonio asked almost innocently. Romano scowled.

"I don't want to graduate, happy?" Romano exclaimed feeling more frustrated by the minute. "God, you are so annoying!" Romano exclaimed and turned his back to Antonio. "Have fun with your friends!" He added afterwards and slammed the door close. Antonio chuckled and finally got dressed.


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N. Guys, I love you, really. Thank you for all the support and the nice words! I want to hug each and every one of you right now, even if I know it's impossible. XD I hope I won't ever let you down and that you will always enjoy my stories as I adore writing them!**

**_Happymood**

* * *

"This Lovino boy must be really into you."

That were the first words Francis, Antonio's best friend since kindergarten, told him when the Spaniard ended narrating him how things in his new house went. The other guy sitting next to them, Gilbert, Antonio's second best friend since High School, just nodded in agreement at that, accompanying the gesture with an exaggerated grin on his face. It was Gilbert's trademark, probably since the day he came out of the womb, so Antonio didn't even notice Gilbert's grinning face.

"Dude, you got it baaaad." Was Gilbert's only half-drunk response gulping down the rest of his beer and raising his hand to order another. Antonio just smiled at him and took a sip of his own beer.

"It's just a crush." Antonio said with a little laugh, "He is only seventeen years old and he probably doesn't even realize what he is doing."

Francis looked quite dubious at that, while Gilbert just looked enthusiastic when the waiter put another huge glass of beer in front of his face.

"You have no finesse whatsoever." Francis commented and Gilbert just flipped him the finger.

"It's kind of cute, actually." Antonio continued totally ignoring his friends. "But then again he is cute as well."

"I don't know, Antonio." Francis said. "Not that I would care, because he is indeed seventeen and he can't think on his own, but isn't it too much if you started playing with his feelings now?"

"I am not doing anything." Antonio said furrowing his eyebrow.

"No, you are just shaking that sexy ass in front of his face whenever you have a chance." Gilbert piped in; shocking Francis and Antonio immensely because they thought Gilbert hadn't been paying any attention (as always).

"It's not as if I have any choice." Antonio said to that quite confused. "Today for example he just barged into my room the moment I finished showering. I couldn't even put some underpants on because then I would have needed to take my towel off."

"It's a pity I wasn't there." Francis commented with a grin. "I wouldn't have minded taking that towel off for you."

Antonio laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Talking about finesse." Gilbert grunted but then started laughing.

"Anyway, it's just a crush." Antonio said with an amused smile, "He will be over it soon enough."

Francis' face turned from amused to dubious again.

"Well, you should know better, right, Antonio?" Francis said taking a sip from his wine (beer was overrated, seriously). "Was it just a crush when you fell in love with that woman when you were seventeen?"

Antonio kept smiling, but Francis and Gilbert knew Antonio well enough to understand it wasn't an amused one.

"That is not the same." Antonio said.

"Oh, come on, Francis!" Gilbert suddenly exclaimed then, "You can't really compare that to this!"

"Maybe." Francis said still quite dubious.

"That time it was all Antonio's fault." Gilbert continued totally ignoring the way Francis and Antonio were staring at him, especially Antonio. "Sorry, pal. You seduced her because your family wanted to get closer to her family so your companies would merge in… oh, fuck it. I am not good with economic stuff." Gilbert said and gulped down his beer.

"Gilbert." Francis said in a warning tone but Gilbert wasn't one who cared about other's opinions.

"And, okay!" Gilbert continued like nothing was a matter, "You ended up falling in love with her, and then shit hit the fan and we know what happened. You got over that, didn't you?"

"Yeah?" Antonio said with a raise of his eyebrow. He really couldn't understand what Gilbert was talking about. Francis just groaned and slapped Gilbert hand on the head.

"Stop saying nonsense!" Francis admonished.

"No, _mum_." Gilbert spat, "Antonio's heart was broken into a million of pieces that time, right? Well, if he is really not oblivious he probably should stop teasing Lovino this way, or Lovino- or whatever his name is- will seriously become heartbroken."

"I don't want to do that!" Antonio exclaimed. Gilbert didn't say anything anymore and just stared disappointed at his empty glass.

"You never keep your mouth shut, do you, Gilbert?" Francis asked sounding more irritated than angry. "You are upsetting Antonio."

Gilbert finally looked up from his glass and fixed his red eyes on Antonio's green ones.

"I am sorry, dude. I am drunk." Gilbert said with a smile. Antonio just smiled as if nothing was going on.

"Anyway." Francis said trying to change conversation. "Why don't we go to a club now?" Francis asked with a grin, "We are drunk enough and I want to dance."

"Lead the way." Gilbert said and rose from his stool. "I love this pub but sometimes it is quite boring. Someone needs to hit on me, really."

"Yes, let's go." Antonio said completely forgetting about what they had been talking about until that moment.

On the other side of town, Lovino didn't know why he couldn't sleep that night, and the thought that he was waiting for when Antonio would come back home never crossed his mind. Okay, maybe it did. More than once, but that wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep! Of course not. That would be immensely stupid.

He just.

He just.

"Feliciano stop snoring!" Romano exclaimed, but Feliciano kept sleeping peacefully (and irritatingly silent) at the other side of the room. Romano groaned and turned in his bed so that he was facing the wall. In that moment he realized that Antonio's room was right next to his and that just a wall was separating his from Antonio's bed.

Romano groaned again and that time it seemed more a whimper of pain than an irritated growl.

He couldn't understand what was going on with him. Antonio was just a guest there, a twenty-three year old college student that happened to rent a room there because his father couldn't earn enough money to raise his two sons. He was just a guy that had tried to tutor him in Math but ended up sucking at it because Romano was so much better than him (and not only in Math, Romano would like to add). Antonio was just a guy that happened to help the two Vargas brothers out, go fetch Romolo from the pub, where he said something (Romano wished he knew what!) and managed to convince Romolo to start taking his fatherhood seriously.

This last part was what bothered Romano the most. That and the fact Antonio kept using his middle name instead of his manlier one. But that wasn't important in that moment.

What was more important was the way Romano jumped from his bed realizing someone had softly closed the front door and sprinted out of his room like a sick schoolgirl with a crush (of course, he thought about that last epitome much later, when he returned back to his bed and slapped himself to obliviousness).

"Lovino?" Antonio asked when the latter switched the kitchen's light on and saw Romano there. Romano stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights and immediately opened the fridge just to do something.

"It's four in the morning, bastard." Romano said looking inside the fridge and only getting his nose cold as a result. "Is this the time to return back home? Tsk. College students." He added then with disappointment.

Antonio just watched him as Lovino returned back to his room empty-handed (and with his nose cold). Antonio looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and just remarked:

"It is really late."

But when Antonio returned back to his room he realized he didn't feel sleepy at all. He remained with his eyes wide open and his breath smelling of alcohol until his stomach started craving something for breakfast.

That same morning only two people looked happy when they all sat around the table to eat. Romolo and Feliciano both had a very good night sleep, while Romano and Antonio just stared at their breakfast with black circles under their eyes.

Romolo supposed Antonio was just going through a hangover, so he gave him an aspirin, which Antonio swallowed, dry. On the other hand, he really couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong with his oldest son.

"Did you sleep well, son?" Romolo asked. Lovino just shrugged and played around with his cereals for a while before eating a spoonful of nothing, as he had spilled the contents back in the bowl before raising the spoon to his mouth.

"Y-yes." Lovino answered absent-mindedly and unconsciously looked at Antonio, who, despite his hangover and the black circles under his eyes, looked in a pretty good shape. Damn him.

"Nightmares?" Feliciano asked right then, "I think I heard you scream something at me, but maybe I was just dreaming."

"Nightmares, son?" Romolo asked. Lovino rolled his eyes at the both of them, but when his eyes met Antonio's worried ones, he felt his cheek heat up.

And… damn it.

"It's been a while since you had nightmares." Romolo said and the three of them knew what he was talking about. None of them could forget the pain after the woman of the family left them, after all.

"Maybe the pizza…" Romano said then. "Yes, the pizza." He stared at his breakfast angrily.

"The pizza?" Romolo and Feliciano exclaimed together and immediately rose to touch Romano's forehead. After all, pizza was Romano's favorite food! There was no way pizza could have given him nightmares unless he was really sick.

"You are burning!" Romolo exclaimed when he touched Lovino's face. Lovino slapped him away but his whole face turned red when he realized Antonio was still looking at him.

"You should go back to bed." Romolo immediately ordered. "Oh, my. Who is going to take care of you? I need to go to work! Maybe I will just call-!"

"I can do that." Antonio said without thinking his words over, "I don't have anything to do today."

Three pairs of eyes looked at him, and Romano suddenly shot up from his chair, dropping the contents of his bowl of cereals on the table.

"I am fucking okay!" Romano exclaimed. "I have- I have-!" His cheeks heated up again and he probably looked delirious, but he didn't care. "I have a test. Yes. A test and I am not prepared. So I need to go to school. Yes. Damn it. Stop looking at me like that!"

"A test?" Romolo asked and looked at Feliciano, who just shrugged. Romano groaned and left the kitchen only to fall unconscious on his bed from exhaustion as soon as he stepped in his room. It was like that Romolo and Feliciano found him a minute later, and they looked at each other in confusion.

Antonio remained in the kitchen for a while and then started cleaning the mess Romano made. After that he silently returned to his room and fell finally asleep.


End file.
